Not Maybe
by Nina of the Galaxy
Summary: After being let down by Oliver and the death of Quentin, Laurel and Thea leave Star City for New York to start new lives, unaware of the path life will take them.
1. Leaving

"Where are you going?" Oliver asked as he barged in the door that was wide open. She didn't even care anymore. How could she not care?

She shook his head. "I'm leaving. I'm taking Thea with me. We're leaving tonight," She told him, without looking at him, just throwing more clothes in a bag.

He snorted. "You can't be serious, right? You can't just leave. This city needs you and you're going to not show up?" He growled as he tried to take the bag away from her.

She let him have it, just for a moment. She pulled her arm back and slapped him across the face. "Just like you showed up when I called you. When Thea called you. Just like you showed up for us? Where were you? You were off trying to patch things up with your ex, who doesn't even really see you, but I'm just supposed to show up for the mission? No, Oliver," She said and grinned a little as she took the bag back. "I'm done."

She turned around and started throwing more clothes in the bag and then stopped. "Without my father here, Thea's the only family I have left who even gives a damn anymore. And we don't want to be here anymore. You nearly let both of us get killed because you couldn't be bothered. It's not like you didn't know what we were doing." She told him and threw things in a pile.

Oliver sat down on the bed and looked at her. "I know there is nothing I will ever be able to do to make it right with you. But are you sure about this? You don't have to go. This is your home."

She smiled as she looked out the window and shook her head. Nothing here anymore. Nothing worth saving. "It's time for me to find a new home. I thought about it before. Going off and being somewhere else. He kept me here. Now, I have nothing here." She choked a little sob back. She opened her nightstand drawer and threw the contents of it in her bag.

He nodded. How could he say anything else? She was well within her rights to move out of this city. This place marked so much pain for her. It was so hard for him to rack his brain around how much pain she endured. She took it all like a soldier. She never let the facade falter.

Maybe it was easier for him. Because at least his pain hadn't been at home. At least he didn't have to come back to it everyday. At least the memories were just memories. And not very physical real locations he had to walk by everyday. Maybe that was why it was easier to handle. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

Maybe he was just weaker than she was.

He looked up to her. "Where are you going?" He asked in a quiet voice.

"Are you going to try and stop me?" She asked him. "Show up on my doorstep one day and convince me to come back home? That my city needs saving?"

He shook his head as he stood up and took her cheek in his hand. "I just want to know where to send your birthday present." He told her with a little bit of a smile.

"New York City," She told him as she held the wrist of his hand that palmed her cheek and leaned into it.

Don't question the reaction, she told herself. Just feel the contact. Feel the connection. Feel that you got across to him and that in some way he understands this.

Don't back out of it. There is nothing for you here, you know that. Don't be lured in by the softness. It is an illusion. There is just more pain behind those eyes. They hide a lifetime of pain.

Maybe you could have been happy. Maybe you could have figured it out and kept your sanity. Maybe you would you have ended up eventually with your names tied together like the marriage vows you always dreamed of taking. Maybe, if things had been different, if he had come, your father wouldn't have died. Maybe you would still want to take on that mantle even if the death wasn't changed. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

Laurel, you can't live your life in maybes. That's her father's voice. She knows he's right.

He swallowed and brought her close to him, giving her all the contact she deserved. He pushed her away and smiled, a little sadly. "I have no idea what this city looks like without you." He told her. "How am I supposed to do this without you?"

She almost broke. How could she let him fall like that? But she had to stand too. She couldn't be the beams for him anymore. He had to learn how to build his own.

She gave him a soft kiss and smiled. "You're never without me," She promised as she put her hand over his heart. "I'm right here. And I'll call whenever Diggle tells me you need a good ass chewing, okay?" She told him.

"I love you," He said, weak, like everything hurt saying those words.

She nodded. "I love you too, Ollie. But it's not enough. This life isn't enough for me anymore. I want to be a part of something that really matters. Get back to my roots. The reason I became a hero in the first place. Make dad proud again." She told him.

He nodded and closed his eyes, let a couple of tears fall, before he remembered, he needed to be strong. He opened his eyes and she was gone. Out of reach, silent in the night.

In that moment, he was sure, she'd taken his heart in that bag of hers. He was sure he wanted her to keep it.

"Are you sure about this?" Thea asked as they pulled up to the airport in the cab. "We can go back, no questions asked." She said.

Laurel smiled. "You heard your brother and I." She told Thea, not asked her.

Thea shrugged. "It was pretty hard not to. You guys were always passionate. That never changed." She said with a smile, the memories of old times flooding back.

Laurel nodded. "I want a life that chooses us everyday. I want a life where the people we know aren't going to not show up." She said to Thea. "And Oliver needs to figure out what life in Star is without you or I. He needs to figure out what his life is there."

Thea understood. This whole life wasn't for everyone all the time. Hell, she was running from it too. Oliver fucked up. He deserved to take that in stride. Thea had never even considered leaving Star until Laurel sat with her laptop in the middle of the living room, booking tickets out.

And then it seemed like the most natural thing to do. Learn what life was like when you didn't have to worry about league fathers or ghosts or assassins or psychos you wanted to shoot in the eye. She could have a chance to be normal again.

How long had it been since she had normal?

Thea figured if she had to ask that question, too damn long.

"So why New York?" Thea asked.

Laurel smiled. "My friend from college, Barbara, she lives there. Said that I could crash at her place for a couple of days. That, of course, is also extended to you. And I don't know, seemed like a good place. And it's a place where the people still need help. I can go back to my CNRI days. Make a difference, one life at a time."

Thea pushed the door open and got out. She offered her hand to Laurel, who gracefully took and pulled herself and her bag out of the cab, before tossing the guy his money and tip.

As they boarded the plane, they held hands and sat together and didn't talk about the enormous jump they just took. They didn't talk about how they were leaving home in search of something. They just did it.

The plane landed in New York safely, and after trying to pop their ears a few hundred times, they came out of the arrivals gates and there sat a woman in a wheelchair, with the name "Laurel Lance and Thea Queen" written on a dry erase board that she held up. The infamous Barbara Gordon.

Thea remembered Laurel being heartbroken when she got the news Barbara was paralyzed by some sick monster in a twisted act of revenge, but to see it with her own eyes was staggering. Especially when that woman looked ready to take on the world, or at least take out the shins of a couple of awkward gawkers, like they had never seen a woman in a wheelchair before.

"Girls," She said as she hugged them both, "Welcome to New York City," She said. She looked Thea up and down and smiled, "God, you're even more beautiful than Laurel told me," She said.

"You told her about me?" Thea asked Laurel, a little shocked.

Barbara chuckled. "Honey, I couldn't get er to stop talking about you. She's proud of you. Couldn't be more proud if you were blood to her. And trust me, she's pretty proud of those chuckleheads she's related to," She said as she wheeled in front of them.

Thea nodded and blushed, "Yeah, I know," She said.

"To New York," Thea said as she held up to glasses of sparkling cider and Laurel smiled as she took one and clinked their glasses together.

"To New York," She agreed and put the glass to her lips and looked out the window. God, this was a view.

Thea stood next to her and looked out the huge window. That kind of view you definitely couldn't get in Star City, she'd admit that much. "So what are you going to do first?" She asked.

Laurel shook her head. "I don't really know," She chuckled. "I should probably start looking for work. Do what I came here to do. Make a difference," She said with a smile.

Thea nodded. "Then I'll look at apartments," She told Laurel, who looked over to her companion, brow furrowed a little. Thea rolled her eyes. "We're not moving immediately, but this apartment is not big enough for the three of us. Not with one bathroom." She told Laurel.

Laurel nodded and kissed Thea's forehead. "I trust you anyway. You know our needs." She told Thea. "Be back by ten, unless something looks promising? Then call?" She asked.

Thea nodded. "It's a deal," She said as they both picked up a handbag and got ready to go out.

"Laurel?" Barbara called.

Thea stopped for a second and Laurel pushed her out the door, "I won't be long," She told Thea, who went on without her.

She turned into the kitchen and looked at Barbara who was intently reading something off of her computer and scribbling things down on a notepad too. Looked like she was in the middle of a thought and Laurel didn't want to break it.

She was almost ready to leave again when Barbara looked up and gave her a small piece of paper with an address and two names written on it. "Check 'em out. Might be the kind of cause you're looking for," She told Laurel.

Laurel looked at the piece of paper again, "Nelson and Murdock." She had to admit, she was a little bit intrigued.

She went to go thank Barbara, but by the time she had, Barbara had gotten into the full swing of things again. Best not to disturb her, Laurel thought as she quietly left the kitchen and out of the apartment.

Time to look for a new job. But first, one of those famous New York cups of coffee that she had spent her whole life admiring through the lens of tv and movies.


	2. Arriving

Laurel looked at the address and then back up to the building, which very distinctly said Nelson and Murdock and walked in. There was some keyboard chatter going on and she could here someone cursing the coffee pot. It was really a law office.

"How can we help you?" A voice from an office asked her.

He stood up and walked out of the doorframe as he looked at her. She blushed a little. Tall and handsome, exactly her type. But no. She scolded herself. You are not here for a date. You are here for a job.

"Actually, I thought maybe I could help you," She said to him with a smile. "Barbara Gordon gave me your address. Said you take on clients that deserve help. Thought I might be interested in such a thing."

Matt looked over to Foggy's office and Foggy came out. "What's going on?" He asked with a genuine curiosity.

Matt nodded over to her. "Miss..."

"Lance," Laurel said, a little nervous now. Why? Well, because there was the possibility of a no involved. And she really hated No right now. "But everyone calls me Laurel," She told them and then looked down at her shoes for just a moment.

"Miss Lance wants to become part of our team," Matt said and his voice suggested amusement at the whole thing. Which she couldn't decide if that was good or bad.

Foggy looked shocked and gave her a quick up and down. This woman was dressed casually, not in anything she would go to court in and yet she looked richer than the two of them combined. Which wasn't exactly hard, but she looked kind of like a Marci figure.

Foggy then chuckled. "Look, don't take this the wrong way, but why us?" He asked. "You could be working for someone who would gladly pay you in real money. There are plenty of firms who would take you," He said.

Laurel cracked a smile and sighed. "Look, I've been to plenty of law firms today. And none of them do justice like you guys do. Everyone says that you take the impossible cases. The ones that mean something. Besides, a friend recommended you." She said as she gave Foggy the piece of paper that Barbara scribbled the address on.

Foggy looked down at it and then directly at Matt. "This is Gordon's handwriting," He said to Matt. He looked to Laurel and grinned. "Give us just a second." He said to her, before he pulled Matt into an office and closed the door behind them.

She wasn't an idiot. She knew what was happening behind that door. They were pro/conning her. They were deciding if this was a good idea. They were deciding if they should take on someone else.

Matt had been quiet while she and Foggy talked, but his opinion of her clearly mattered. From the looks of it, they were the Nelson and Murdock of the operation. There was one other desk, a secretary or paralegal perhaps? She waved it off. Not important.

They came out of the office and looked at her. "You realize you won't be paid very much here?" Foggy asked. "We can barely keep the office from buckling under."

"I didn't come here looking for a fat check. I could have stayed with the district attorney's office in Star City if I wanted that," She told him.

The words Star City seemed to make Fogy connect some dots. He stared into the air for a moment as if all the puzzle pieces finally became available to him. "You're that Laurel Lance," He said as she put his head in his hands. "We're very sorry for your loss," He said.

She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it," She told him. It struck a nerve.

Matt thought that was interesting. While her voice said that she definitely knew what he was talking about, the world loss seemed to fill her with more than just a little hurt. She had lost before. This was not the first time and that sentiment just brought it all flooding back.

"You'd have to take on a case pro bono, just so we can see how you do," Matt told her.

Foggy looked between them. He knew Matt lost people and the way he leaned into her, the understanding, it didn't take an idiot to see that she had lost more than her fair share.

Matt liked her. Maybe not in that way, yet, but he liked her. And fuck if that didn't mean just a shit show. Seriously? And he didn't know how dangerous this one was yet, but Matt liked her, so there had to be something about her that screamed danger.

And it certainly wasn't all that loss.

Foggy shook his head, every damn time. Matt ferreted out the most beautiful woman in the room. And when she smiled, Foggy melted a little too. Yeah, so maybe he was squishy about her too.

She nodded. "I can do that," She said. "Any case you want to give me. I'm there." She promised Matt.

"Leave your number on Karen's desk," He said, as he motioned to the desk between the two offices. "And we'll call you by the end of the week with the case we want you on," He said.

Laurel nodded. She wrote her number on a legal pad and put her name above it, just to make sure they didn't forget what they had that number for and looked to bot of them. "Thank you for this," She told them.

"Don't thank us, yet." Foggy said. "You still don't officially have the job," He joked and she laughed before she turned her back and threw them a wave, before walking out their hall, out of site, back into the sea of New York City.

He looked over to Matt and shook his head. "You can't date her." He said.

Matt laughed. "I wasn't planning on it," He said.

"See that's the thing Matt. You didn't plan to date our stunningly hot secretary, but you did that too. So you can't date her." He said.

Matt laughed even more. "I didn't even do anything. I'm not interested in her. Well, I am, but only as a lawyer. Even you said, she could be an incredible asset to this firm."

"You promise you won't pursue her?" Foggy asked as he raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm serious Matt. It's been a long time since there has been someone in this office that you haven't dated. And personally, I would like to keep it that way, at least for a little while."

Matt blew a breath out his nose and shook his head.

"What?" Foggy asked.

Matt chuckled. "She's an even better lawyer than we thought." Matt told him. "You're already picturing life with her in this office. And you were the one who said that technically she doesn't even have a job here yet."

Foggy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, don't think about that." He told his partner. "I'm serious about this Matt, please?" He asked.

Matt nodded. "I won't pursue her. Besides, what would she want with a vigilante like me? She wants to take on impossible cases." He told Foggy. "Bring justice with the law. If she knew about me, she'd turn away."

"And you are always an impossible case." Foggy replied. While Matt was sure that Laurel would hate him for his vigilante ways, he couldn't deny the looks between them. Yeah, maybe it was professional interest, but it had been a hell of a long time since someone looked at him with that much professional interest.

Foggy went into his office and started looking through their open case files. There were a lot of options to give Lance. And she would have to work with one of them, but what did he want to see? What did Matt want to see from her?

He couldn't speak for Matt. All he could do was speak for himself. And go over it with Matt. And that was what he was going to do.

Her phone call rang, not even three hours after she got back home from Nelson and Murdock's.

"Who's that?" Barbara asked as she ate a bite of her thai food.

Laurel looked at it, the number didn't come up as any of her contacts. She shrugged, before she answered. "Hello, Laurel Lance speaking, how may I help you?" She asked.

"Lance, we found the case you're taking." Foggy said. "It's a weird one."

Laurel laughed a little. Of course they would give her a weird case to take on. It would show how she handled herself in unique situations, which, it seemed that Foggy and Matt got into a lot in the court of law.

"Okay, what's the case?" She asked him as she took a legal pad in hand and put a pen to paper.

Foggy looked over to Matt who shook his head and grinned. Hearing Foggy have to tell Laurel about this case was one of the great many joys in his life. If for no other reason than because Foggy seemed to be unnaturally embarrassed about the whole thing.

Which was hilarious. Because the beauty queen was clearly hitting on Foggy. And he was just going to give the case away.

To be fair, it made an excellent case to see where Laurel's chops were with the law. Not an open and shut case, but also not an impossible one. If she could do this, it'd be easy to see why she fit in around here.

Foggy ignored Matt and focused on Laurel, "So we have a beauty queen, Adrienne Waters, who brought in a memo from the CEO of the company that runs the beauty pageant picking girls to be the finalists. Now, that'd be all well and good if the pageant had already started, but they're still in rehearsals."

Laurel wrote all of this information down. "Okay, well what pageant is it?" She asked.

Foggy blinked a couple of times. "What?" He asked as if she had asked him to come up with the recipe for cold fusion.

Laurel put her pen down. "What pageant is it? I need to know if it's a televised pageant because that informs the argument. Also whether it's a pageant or a scholarship program," Which he could hear the air quotes around.

"There's a difference?" He asked.

She nodded into her phone. "Oh yes. There's a big difference. But you know what, it'd just be easier for me to sit down with the client and sort all of this out myself. Can you set up a meeting with her, tomorrow morning?" She asked.

"Yeah," He said as he looked at the calendar, "But it's going to be you and Matt and Adrienne. I have court in the morning."

Laurel nodded. "Great. I'll draft up some possibles and then when we get more information tomorrow, we'll settle on a course of action." She said. "I'll be at the office at nine?" She asked him.

Foggy nodded. "Sounds great," He said as he clicked the phone off.

Matt shook his head. "You don't have court in the morning." He said. "And you're gonna leave me here with two beautiful women who I could possible sleep with?" He asked.

"I just, Adrienne is way too beautiful for me. I mean you heard me this afternoon. I practically drooled all over her." Foggy said as he attempted to throw a crumpled up piece of paper into a trashcan, basketball style.

He missed.

Matt couldn't believe his friend didn't think he was good enough for this girl. "She liked you, Foggy. She spent the entire time looking at you and thinking how different you were from other people." He said. "You don't give yourself enough credit,"

"I'm nothing special," Foggy moped.

Matt looked at Foggy and smiled. "You're special to me. Isn't that enough?" He asked.

"I bet you say that to all of the lawyers." He told Matt. "Seriously, you'll be fine with Lance. Besides, you have a better knack of feeling people out. You should do that." He told Matt.

They should be doing this together. Especially because they were always a team. Matt ruffled Foggy's hair and smiled. "This is going to be a lot less fun without you," He told Foggy.

"I'm sure you'll find a way to make it fun." Foggy replied and he knew it was true. This would be a good case for them to take on. There was lots of press to be had around it and Laurel's face would make a big statement for them.


	3. Adrienne

Laurel smoothed over the skirt of her dress and smiled to the full length mirror. Thea stood in the doorway, head cocked and grinning. "So who's the banging dress for?" She asked.

"My client," She said as the smile stood bright on her face and she picked up a jacket. This was her first day in the big city as an attorney and she wanted to make a good impression. This wasn't her first rodeo, but it was the first one of her new life. She wanted to do it right. And dressing the part, that was the first step.

Thea nodded. "Figured you might say that, so I brought you this," She said as she put a piping hot thermos full of coffee just the way Laurel liked it in her hand. Laurel was so good at her job and Thea learned a lot from CNRI about how coffee made Laurel nearly unstoppable. Even more than usual. "You kick a lot of ass, today, okay?"

Laurel took the coffee and put it on the end table beside the door and hugged Thea. Everything about this whole life, none of it she loved more than this girl. She loved Thea more infinitely than justice. If anyone asked her to give it up, she could only do it because of this girl. The one thing in the world she would give everything up for. "I love you, you know that, right?" She asked.

Thea nodded. "God, you're a sap." She said, trying to break the spell. Laurel laughed so it worked. She put the coffee back in Laurel's hand and went back to the kitchen, presumably to get some of her own.

Laurel picked up the briefcase that had her legal pad full of ideas and her computer and her coffee and headed out of the apartment. She thought how different this would be. No more fighting in the grey lines of morality, all she had to do was show up and convince people of blacks and whites.

When she walked into Nelson and Murdock and only saw Murdock, she looked a little surprised. "Thought our client would be here, already," She said as she put her stuff on Karen's desk. "So what's she like?" She said as she as sat down and looked over the case files, before she looked up at him.

Matt snorted a little. "You want to know about the beauty queen?" He asked with a little bit of disbelief.

She furrowed her brow. "Why is that funny?" She asked him.

"You don't seem like the type of girl who would be interested in pageants. I mean, no offense." He told her with a little bit of a smile that was on just on the right side of charming.

She shrugged. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Matt. And trust me, pageants and the girls who do them aren't as vapid as you think they are." She told him. "They have to be up on current events, they have to be articulate, they have to have talent, as well as embrace a femininity all while being sneered at by people who think we're above them, because they know how to do their eyeliner better than we do."

He smiled. "You've had some time to think about this," He told her.

She nodded and looked through some of the work that Foggy had left her. "I paid for some of college with a small pageant scholarship." She said. "I only did it once, but it was enough," She told him. "To defend these girls and their choices from people who would think less of them."

"I'm sorry," He apologized and he meant it. Yeah, when he thought about it, that was probably not the right thing to say to her. Or anyone in that position. And thinking about people complexly, well that was supposed to be his thing, right?

She waved her hand at it and didn't look at him again. How could he have been so stupid? Personally, yeah, he thought this case was a little crazy and that's exactly why they gave it to her. But then she surprised him by actually believing in this client, someone other people would have shrugged off. Someone and something he shrugged off, but not her. To her, this was important work.

He went to go say something again when the door creaked open. "Hello, everyone." Adrienne's lilted voice sang through the door. She looked up and only saw Laurel and Matt and looked around. "Where's Foggy?" She asked.

"He had other plans today," Matt said, "But Laurel and I, we're gonna take care of you," He promised her.

Adrienne looked over at Laurel, "You weren't here last time." She said.

Laurel shook her head. "I sure wasn't, but I'm here now. And I want to help you. Now, Foggy said that the pageant was televised?" She asked.

Adrienne nodded. "Yeah, it's on the local news and everything. The man who runs the pageant, Anthony Davis, he's always going on about how this pageant is one of the widest watched local events. Everyone loves this pageant. It's an honor even to be a contestant, but I just want it to be fair," She told Laurel.

Laurel looked at Matt and smiled and then looked back to Adrienne, "Well, since it's televised, we can go to the FCC and we should be able to get this all figured out in no time," She said.

"Really?" Adrienne squealed.

Laurel nodded actively. "Yeah, it should be a simple matter of telling an FCC official all of the pretty damning evidence we gathered and they should be able to launch an investigation into Anthony Davis and the pageant." She said. "We'll make an appointment for tomorrow,"

Adrienne threw her arms around Laurel and hugged her. "I can't believe I ever found this place," She said. "I never thought someone would want to help me,"

Laurel blushed. "We're just doing our jobs." She said. "Now, go get some rest. You deserve it." She said as she shooed Adrienne out of the room, before she looked at Matt.

He nodded once. "I have to admit, that was something I had never seen before." He told her.

She shrugged. "If we don't believe in our clients, who will? And besides, she believes in this system. However silly it might seem to everyone else, that's real to her. We should respect that." She told him as she took a sip of her coffee.

"You were never a beauty queen," He told her.

She shook her head, "But you believing that I was helped you see her as a more whole, a complexity that deserved to have our full attention," She said as she shrugged. "Besides, taking down a man like Anthony Davis, isn't that why you became a lawyer?"

He looked a little bit in awe of her. She hadn't once said anything about the fact that he was clearly blind and every time he saw her, the passion for justice just spiked in the room. It seemed to blossom around her like a beautiful aura in a rainbow of colors. God, he wondered what she looked like. He always wondered that really. How people looked. He didn't miss sight anywhere more than seeing people.

He couldn't believe that she had lied to him. Even more intriguing, that she made the lie so compelling that he believed it. He thought about her question about whether he became a lawyer to take down men like Anthony Davis, who seemed pretty detestable. He was making money off of women who were smart and valuable and only giving them a small portion of what he raked in.

"Anthony Davis isn't the reason I became a lawyer, but taking down men like him reminds me why it's worth it," He told her. "Why I come here everyday instead of sitting in a corporate high rise with my free bagels, helping clients getting the biggest divorce settlement they can just to screw over their ex."

She grinned. She loved hearing that he had a choice at another life. One that could have been way easier on him in almost every way, but that it wouldn't have been as fulfilling as this life. It reminded her that choosing this, it was always a choice. It was something she chose to do, because it made her life better. She didn't have to do this. Her life could be easy, but this was something she chose to do. She chose to come to New York. She chose Nelson and Murdock. She chose this life. And she would have so many more choices in this life. Happiness and fulfillment were choices that she made everyday and she would continue to choose those things.

Laurel looked more directly at him, studied him for a few moments. He sat with excellent posture and his figure, though he hid it under the slightly wrinkled shirt was solid. There was something about him that was different. And not just the obvious.

She slumped her shoulders. "How do you pick your clothes out in the morning?" She asked him as she rocked her chair side to side by gently moving her foot.

He couldn't help but laugh. She just went there, went for it. Didn't lead up to it. It was out in the open and so she asked. "I have braille tags on the hangars. And someone who meticulously makes sure they're on the right hangars," He told her as he nodded. "I was wondering how long it would take to get there. Although that's not usually the first question I get asked."

She blushed and looked down at her papers and then looked back at him. He was beautiful. He was a gorgeous human. "I'm sorry for blurting it out," She cringed. Having something like that be such a part of you, it had to be hard.

He shook his head. "Don't even worry about it," He smiled. "You held out for a long time. I can see why it would just come out," He laughed a little. "Seriously, I'm so used to it being the first thing people ask. And all you wanted to do was talk about work." He told her as he took his coffee cup in his hand and sipped.

"It's refreshing," He said when he put his coffee cup down. "You're refreshing." He told her and grinned.

Her lips quirked a little bit. How could he go from the guy who told her she didn't seem like a girlie girl this morning, then be this guy? She nodded and looked out the window. "We should go out for lunch." She told him as she took her purse in hand and stood up abruptly.

He nodded and pushed up from his chair and held out his arm for her to guide him. What? People couldn't resist. Even if they weren't curious about it, they always liked to help. She entwined her arm with his and led him out of the office and felt the breeze on her face and smiled a little bit brighter.

"So where do you suggest, Mr. Murdock?" She asked him. Hadn't planned this out very well, she scolded herself. How did she not have a suggestion for lunch? How didn't she think about that last night? She had planned where she was getting takeout in her last eight jobs the night before they started. How did she not think about this?

He laid his other hand on her arm. "Relax," He said. "I can feel your brain going a million miles a minute," He told her. Wasn't exactly untrue, but it was more complicated than that. "How about Greek food?" He asked.

She let out a small happy noise. "Yeah," She said as she looked up at him in his red glasses and smiled, "That sounds perfect," She told him.

Matt Murdock wasn't the first person who made her smile, in new york or in life, but he was the first person here who made her blush while doing it. He was the first person who helped her remember that liking someone didn't have to be complicated. It didn't have to involve cheating or families or being part of a legacy or even justice. Sometimes liking someone, she remembered as they walked down the street and talked, could just be about liking someone and it was as simple as that.


	4. Lawyering, pt 1

Matt took Laurel home to Barbara and he swore, he heard an invisible chuckle in her voice. "Good to see you, Murdock." She said as she wheeled into the kitchen.

"Good to see you too, Barb," He grinned. He liked her even more now than he already had before, when she just helped them occasionally. And that was saying something according to Foggy, because he already thought she was the bee's knees before. He turned, almost to face Laurel, who blushed and looked away. Interesting, he thought. "I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Eight O'clock sharp," She told him as she put her hand on his arm for just a moment. She then let it slip and he wished she hadn't. It felt good there.

He shook his head. "Right," He told her. "I should probably let you get back to the rest of your day," Matt said as he took a step back from her. Barbara shook her head and said something he couldn't quite place underneath her breath. He willed himself out of the apartment, not because he wanted to, but because convention dictated it.

When he came back to the office, Foggy looked at him, funny. "What?" He asked, worried. "Do I have something on my face?"

Foggy guffawed. God, his friend was an idiot sometimes. "Yeah, Matt." He confirmed. "A smile. What the hell put that there?" He asked. Although, it didn't take a genius to know what put it there. Matt had only been with one thing for any significant amount of time. Lance. Laurel freaking Lance. Laurel was making his best friend happy. So happy that the man smiled out of the blue.

Matt shook his head and sat at his desk. "Don't know. Guess it was just a good day," He told Foggy.

"I bet it was," Foggy said and just went to work at his desk. Yeah, Matt would be oblivious to the whole thing that was happening to him. But it might be the best thing that ever happened too. Laurel could hold her own, already proved it, and Matt, he needed someone like that in his life.

Barbara gave Laurel a sandwich and Laurel shook her head. "We had lunch," She told Barbara, who shrugged and ate the sandwich herself.

"So lunch huh?" She asked. "He must be something special."

Laurel shook her head, "It was just lunch. Get your mind out of the gutter," Laurel said as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

Barbara shook her head. "Oh, honey, the last time you started having lunch with someone, you were ready to marry them, remember?" She asked.

"Yeah," Laurel admitted. The last time she had a lunch with anyone who wasn't strictly a business colleague was Oliver. But Matt was just a business colleague. No matter what he looked like. And smelled like. And yeah, he had a good laugh. But that didn't mean anything. "But it was just lunch. I mean come on, he could be my boss. I don't want to ruin that," She told him.

Barbara looked at her with an eyebrow cocked, "You sure about that?" She asked.

* * *

Adrienne stood between them and grinned. "You guys look cute today," She said as she fixed the lapels on Matt's jacket and Laurel frowned a little, her cheeks getting hot. Of course, when Adrienne saw this, she picked through her bag and found a lip gloss and put it on Laurel to which, Matt looked away. God, what he wouldn't give to be doing that for Laurel.

Mr. Collin Bosco of the FCC sat behind his desk when they walked into his office and he looked up, not quite sure of what he saw. There was so much going on. A woman in a power suit, the one who called him, and then a beauty queen, and a blind man to top it off. He wondered if he was actually dreaming, but they all sat down and smiled at him.

"What can I do for you?" He asked them, best to start this the way he would any other case. If it was a dream, it would get ridiculous from the get go and well, then he could ignore it. If it wasn't, well, he would deal with it like a consummate professional.

Laurel took out her case files, one of which included a copy of the note that was she was given by Adrienne. "The pageant Adrienne, our lovely client is a part of is being fixed by the owner," Matt told Mr. Bosco looked on like he couldn't even believe what he was hearing.

Laurel gave him the memo that was the most integral part of the case, "I'm sure the FCC agrees that this memo is convincing evidence of pageant fixing, a clear violation of 47 USC, section 509." She told him.

Mr. Bosco looked at the memo and then looked at the three people in the chairs opposite him and looked to the memo again. "The Quiz Show law?" He asked.

Laurel nodded. "As you know, the quiz show law prohibits any scheme to predetermine contests of knowledge, skill, or chance." She told him. "I mean regardless of the nature of the pageant, this has to be a pretty open and shut case," She said.

Mr. Bosco nodded his head once as he looked at the document once more. "Does this require skill though?" He asked.

Adrienne looked up and smiled, "Yes. The pageants two most weighted categories are the interview and the talent portion, which make up sixty percent of the total pageant. I mean it takes eloquence and skill to be successful in the interview, thinking of the best way t get your message across while taking into account the judge's specific dispositions. And the talent portion, is worth the most of any category." She told Mr. Bosco with her cheery disposition that made even Matt smile.

Yeah, maybe this was a crazy case, but this was a woman who loved this pageant and believed in it wholeheartedly. She deserved a fair shot at this crown. She did everything with grace, even when everyone who mocked her was less than.

"Okay," Mr. Bosco said rolling his eyes and putting the document down, "But why would Mr. Davis fix his own pageant? I mean doesn't that seem a little silly?" He asked.

Laurel leaned forward, "The finalists on that list are the daughters of wealthy business owners and politicians. Mr. Davis has a vested interests in keeping their families happy so that he can continue his leveraged lead in those industries." She told him. "But nowhere on that list is the are any of the crowd favorites according to this bookie website," She told him as she handed him another print out, which included betting ranges for all of the contestants of the pageant.

Matt nodded. "To be frank, Anthony Davis doesn't care about the Miss NYC Star Pageant. He just cares about the money he's going to make off of it, which includes ticket sales, advertising at the pageant, and the money he makes from the local stations running it." He said, defiantly.

Adrienne looked over at both of them with a look of awe, how they fought for, how they fought together was amazing. She looked at the FCC man in front of her, who didn't seem moved though and continued to smile. How could he not see all of this in front of him?

"That was very informative," Mr. Bosco said as he looked over them.

Laurel grinned, "So what do we do next?" She asked him. "You know what, we could work with the U.S. Attorney's office, cause this, this can't be the only thing like this. I mean this is huge. If a small pageant like this is fixing for profit, what's to say that the Miss USA pageant isn't also doing it?" She asked.

Matt nodded, now only there for moral support. This was outside his comfort zone. Which was beating up criminals and catholic guilt, not that anyone else needed to really know that.

Adrienne looked at Laurel like she had walked on water and then looked back to Mr. Bosco who looked a little confused as to what Laurel was saying. "Thank you for the visit, but the FCC is not going to pursue an investigation into Anthony Davis," He told her.

Laurel's face went blank, "Wait, what?" She asked. "You can't be serious right now,"

Mr. Bosco laughed a little, "Anthony Davis is a jobs creator, not just here in New York City, but across the country and around the world. He's important to our economy right now" He told them. "And the FCC isn't going to make a fuss against the man over a pageant, just to launch an investigation because a beauty queen thinks she's being treated unfairly." He told them. "I'm sorry, but we're done here," He said to them as he gave Laurel back her documents.

Matt stood up and took Adrienne by the hand, hearing her on the verge of tears. This was not a good day. They lost. They lost against the government to Anthony Davis. They lost in a place where they should have had the upperhand. He ushered her out of the room.

Laurel stuffed the pieces of evidence in her bag and left too and did her best not to slam the door on her way out.

"How could they do that to us?" Adrienne asked.

Laurel shook her head. "Because the government is broken and sexist," She told Adrienne, "But don't you worry," She promised. "We are not done fighting,"

Adrienne looked at her with wonder. "You're sure?" She asked.

"Oh, we're just getting started, Adrienne." She confirmed. "Just go home, we'll figure out a new play from the office and we'll call you," She told Adrienne who nodded and left her lawyers alone.

Matt put his hand on her shoulder, "You know we don't have to go forward with this." He told her. "You already proved yourself. Foggy will know that. And how you defended Adrienne in there? That was top notch work." He told her.

Laurel shook her head, "No, she deserves better than that. She deserves to be heard. And the FCC didn't take her seriously because she's beautiful. She deserves a fair shot at this. Because everyone deserves a fair shot. The law is supposed to work that way," She told him.

He nodded. "Well, then," He said, "Looks like we need to get back to the office."

She looked at him with surprise, it had taken only that to convince him? She had plenty more in her arsenal, but he stood there with his hand outstretched, she smiled and took it, walking blissfully to the subway with a man who sure was going to be something in her life.

* * *

"So how'd the FCC go?" Foggy asked as Matt and Laurel came into the office, standing side by side. He was as hopeful as they were and seeing them without Adrienne surely had to be a good sign.

The slumped shoulders of both lawyers in front of them showed the disappointment though. "It wasn't our fault though. Even with the compelling evidence put in front of them, the FCC decided not to launch an investigation into Anthony Davis." Matt told Foggy, "Laurel was great though. You should have seen here with Mr. Bosco and Adrienne, she was truly magnificent."

"Don't worry," Laurel said, keeping her head up, "I have a new plan."

Foggy looked surprised, but hopeful. "Okay, what is it?" He asked.

She took a second and thought about it. She didn't actually have a new plan, but this case and Adrienne deserved a new plan.

And then the light bulb went off. "The people on the list were all the daughters of influential people. People who could and would help him in business if they got good press. Having their daughters front and center of a nice noncontroversial pageant would definitely be that good press," She said as she remembered their arguments with Mr. Bosco.

Foggy nodded skeptically. "That we already knew, part of the reason it was easy to go to the FCC." He told her.

Laurel knew that and grinned. "Yeah, but since the FCC refuses to enforce its own rules on this matter, we can file a qui tam lawsuit, with Adrienne as a whistleblower." She told him as and giggled, thinking for a moment, how wonderful such a step would be in making a profile against Anthony Davis.

"That," Matt said, "Could actually work. Plus, Anthony Davis wouldn't even see it coming."

Foggy shook his head. "You guys realize that Anthony Davis has like a million lawyers?" He asked. "We'd be going up against an army,"

Laurel looked around and smiled, let herself linger on Matt for just longer than she should have, before she turned and looked to Foggy, "The three of us, against an army? I like those odds," She said.

Foggy nodded. "You're quite frankly crazier than Matt. And he talked me out of taking a big position after The Punisher case, which really raised my profile," He told her. "But I'm going to go get us some food, so we can all sit down and talk about how you intend to outlawyer an army."

Foggy left and looked as Laurel and Matt, stood there in ignorance of the world around them and just talked, but you could see the whole world light up between them. Two people who had seen so much and chose to be the champion of a beauty queen. Maybe her spirit was leaking onto them.

"He likes you," Matt said with a smile.

Laurel shrugged. "I'm hard not to like," She grinned.

"And humble too," He laughed. "Seriously, you and this thing with Adrienne, it's kind of amazing to see how much you want to fight for her," He told her.

Laurel tangled her fingers in his and tried not to think about how right they felt and shrugged again. "She's not exactly the most matyred case I've ever taken on, but she's sweet. And she's bright. And she deserves a shot at happiness. That's all she wants," Laurel said. "I think that's all any of us want, really."

Happiness, he thought, god he'd been so happy just standing here with her fingers in his, feeling her skin slide gently in his hands. Maybe the last time he'd been this happy was with Karen, but Karen didn't know his identity. And neither did Laurel. Laurel who was good and pure and only wanted to help people.

He made so many mistakes with Karen and he didn't want to repeat them. She shouldn't have to go through that pain again. She'd been through so much pain. They'd looked her up. They'd heard the stories about the sheer force that was Laurel Lance. He was not going to be the one to put a damper on all this girl could achieve.

So for good of her happiness, he knew it was time to step away. Time to figure out who he was before he started something. He had to let her have a chance at happy, even if it was with someone else. She deserved someone who made her happy everyday. Who could give her that. Not someone who would be late to dates, if they showed up at all.

Yeah, she made him happy, but knowing what his secret did to people, all the pain it put them through, hearing her get choked up by Mr. Bosco was hard enough, and that wasn't even pain. That was just resentment that the government wasn't doing its job.

"I think you've got a shot at it, Laurel," He said as he disentangled his fingers from hers and stepped away, intent on walking to his office.

" _You sure about that?"_ Barbara's words rang, because fuck what you were supposed to do, all she knew was want.

She took his hand and turned him back to her, "I know I do, Matt," She said, before she gave him a gentle kiss.


	5. Bantering

Matt couldn't believe she kissed him so quickly. It was abrupt and unexpected. And a little exciting, he thought as he cradled her a little closer to him. God, he shouldn't be doing this. Everything in his right mind told him, he shouldn't be doing this, but for just a moment he indulged.

And then his phone went off: Karen. She broke away from him and positively blushed before she went into Foggy's office, so he could deal with his phone call. The rest of the night had been uneventful.

Still, the next morning, he thought about that kiss, even when they were supposed to discussing the case. Yeah, it was reckless. They hadn't talked about the kiss at all the rest of the evening before but he couldn't help but feel intensely about that kiss. He felt right there on his lips as he turned his body towards her.

They barely knew each other and yet, such a kind soul would not have been brought to them if she wasn't supposed to be there? No. He thought. She wouldn't have been brought into their lives if she wasn't going to change them for the better.

As they sat around the table discussing the plan of how they were going to take Anthony Davis to court, he grinned. She had an acute ability to make this seem possible. Like they could actually a case for a beauty queen against a huge jobs creator in New York City.

"Hey, Lance, could you give us a second?" Foggy asked.

She nodded. "I'm gonna go make some coffee. Anyone want some?" She asked.

Matt held up his hand, "I'd love one and I'm sure Foggy would like one too." He told her.

Foggy shook his head, "Nah, I'm good. I'll just get jittery." He told her, looking at her briefly before he narrowed his eyes at Matt. Laurel laughed a little under her breath as she left. When he was sure she was out of earshot, "Okay, what the fuck happened? You've never been this happy about a case, especially one like this."

"Nothing, Foggy." He assured his friend.

Foggy was sure it was in fact not nothing. "You've got that I've got a new girl in my life smile and you promised me you wouldn't pursue Lance. So please tell me you met a cute barista," He told his friend.

"Yes. I promised you that I wouldn't pursue Lance." He said, repeating Foggy's words back to him as he shrugged a little. "I still kept that promise," He affirmed.

Foggy rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Matt?" He asked him. "How? And When? It's not like you guys have exactly had time to be alone for any measurable amount of time."

Matt lips quirked up a little more if that were even possible as he turned his head to "look" in the direction of Laurel and the coffee machine. "When you were getting food last night, she kissed me. We were talking about having a chance at happiness and she said she knew she had a chance at it and she kissed me." He said as he looked down and smiled to his damn paperwork.

Foggy shook his head. "No. No. No." He told Matt. "You cannot get into that with her. She doesn't deserve the amount of complication that you are going to bring into her life. Plus, she's gonna work with us so can you maybe not?"

Matt knew that Foggy was right, but he also didn't want to give this up, giver her up. She deserved a regular life with a regular guy who could make her happy. Then again, he didn't know if she would ever go for regular guys. They saw the headlines all of her ex-boyfriends tended to catch and well, she definitely wasn't a regular girl. "I'm not pursuing her," He told Foggy firmly. "But I'm not saying no to an opportunity she brings to me,"

Foggy rolled his eyes. Yeah, well, that was better than nothing. "Fine. But maybe try being honest with her a little bit earlier than you've done with everyone else, 'kay?" He asked. "Because we need her." He told Matt.

Matt nodded and pushed himself away from the desk and walked towards the small kitchenette. He leaned in the doorway and she smiled at him. "Your coffee's done," He told her.

She looked up from her phone, a little guilty, and blushed from slight embarrassment. "Seemed like you guys were having a moment," She told him. "Didn't want to get in the way of that. Especially because I may not have meant to but I heard a few choice words from Foggy." She admitted.

It sounded like it wrenched her heart to say that. He knew why. She truly did mean to give them some space to work out whatever it was, but Foggy's voice boomed a little more than he would have liked and it was a small office. Sometimes, you couldn't help but overhear things. Even if you were a normal person with normal hearing and not someone who could hear you breathing steadily from across the way.

He sighed. "What'd you hear?" He asked.

She laughed. "Well, that it's not the first time you've pursued someone in your office. And that you bring complication." She said as she poured her coffee.

He nodded. That was all true. He did bring complication into the lives of the people that he dealt with. "Well, technically, you're pursuing me." He grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist, but not before setting her coffee down so he could do it.

He reveled in the moment, in the softness, in the uncomplicated bliss of holding this woman who lost so much, who fought so hard, and who deserved all of the best in the world. And then he opened his eyes and looked at her again. "But he's right, I do bring complications. I've never been with someone who's an easy or normal choice." He told her.

She looked up into his beautiful amber eyes and her lips quirked up. "What kind of complication do you bring into the lives of the women you know, Matt Murdock?" She asked him.

He shrugged and kissed her forehead. "complicated complications." He told her. Not a lie. Being the daredevil was the most complicated complication he had in his life. It strained all of his relationships. And then there was also Frank and dealing with the loss of Elektra.

She shrugged. "You know, I'm pretty good at complicated." She told him.

There wasn't even the quiver of doubt in the way she said it. She didn't lie about it. She was good at complications. Still, that didn't mean that she would be okay with this. And he understood why she might not be. It's not like it was exactly normal.

"But," She said. There was always a but. Always. And he felt his heart sink.

He took his arms away from her waist and her brow furrowed. She shook her head and put them back where they were.

And then his brow furrowed.

And she gently laughed. "But, I think we should finish this case, before we move on and get closer." She told him and he nearly breathed a sigh of relief. "I just want us to be not as complicated as we can make it. It shouldn't look like I got the job just because I'm dating my boss." She told him.

He nodded. "For the record," He told her. "When you get this job, I'm no longer your boss. We're equals." He told her. "So don't worry about it too much, okay?" He asked.

She stood up on her tippy toes to reach and gave him a tiny peck and then released him. He released her and he would never admit it, but that tiny peck has given him butterflies in the stomach. God, this girl, how could she be so good? How could she be so understanding? She didn't even know the kind of complications she was getting into and her only request was to not look like she slept with the boss.

To get the job on her own merit.

Not like even if they were dating that would be a problem. She was a fucking brilliant lawyer. They were going to hire her. But she didn't want it to feel like anything hinky was going on underneath the surface and for that part, he couldn't believe she walked into their life. This woman was going to be something else.

She poured him a cup of coffee and put it in his hands, an excuse to touch if he ever saw one, but he didn't complain, in fact, he chuckled under his breath and left the kitchenette, sure she followed him out with one of her own.

She sat down with a grin and looked down at her papers. "All we need is for the judge to understand that the FCC didn't enforce the ruling," She said. "We have solid evidence that Anthony Davis did the pageant wrong. And that there is clear evidence of rigging," She told them. "Plus Adrienne's a good witness, she'll look good on the stand, sound good too." She smiled.

"Well, courts in the morning. You and Matt are going to be taking this on." Foggy told her. He didn't even know what to say. They sorted out all of the kinks of her plan when she came up with it yesterday. Now, it was just about getting it to trial.

Foggy looked between them and the words that were unsaid. They both looked really happy. Laurel with her never ending grief and Matt with his catholic guilt, they deserved to be happy. This is what they wanted and they deserved a chance at it.

Maybe he could sort of see why Matt was so insistent about not listening to him this time, although, he would never ever tell that to Matt. It would surely be the last time, Matt ever listened. And sometimes Matt needed someone else to steer him in the right direction.

Foggy picked up some of the papers. "Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow after court, okay?" He asked. "Get some rest. That means you, Murdock," He said as he grabbed his jacket.

"Where you going?" Laurel asked him.

He blushed. "I actually have a date. You two aren't the only ones with love lives around here." He told her. She looked a little shocked that he actually said it out loud. "Look, we're gonna spend a lot of time together, we might as well be comfortable. And the last time Matt and I didn't talk about it openly, Karen almost left us for an exciting new career in journalism." He told.

She shrugged. That seemed fair. She still hadn't met Karen, but the fact that she stayed despite the fact that it didn't work out meant that she was incredibly strong, someone she wanted to meet soon. With Foggy gone, she looked to Matt and grinned. "I guess, I'll see you in court?" She asked him.

He nodded, but not before he could catch her by the waist and give her one of those small pecks like she had done right before they came out and talked to Foggy.

She didn't want to stray from his arms and no one was around. No one would know if she reveled in his strong frame and felt safe, but she was determined. She pushed herself away and grinned. "We can't keep doing that. We have to wait." She told him with a grin that he knew wouldn't stop. He could hear it in her voice.

"Well then, let me walk you home," He requested.

She chuckled. "Isn't that the opposite of waiting?" She asked him.

He shook his head, "I just so happen to have something that I need to ask Barbara to try and hack into for me. So really, I'm going that way anyway, you would just be doing me a favor," He charmed and she rolled her eyes a little bit.

But she held her arm for him to take. "Since I'm doing you a favor," She assured him.

He nodded and took her arm and they took the subway down to Barbara's apartment. It was something for of an interesting experience being on the subway with someone who wasn't a new yorker. You could always sort of pick them out, but she felt like always belonged there.

Maybe she had been in the wrong city all along. One thing he was sure of is that holding her soft hand in his definitely seemed inevitable and perfect.

Yeah, they were both really bad at waiting. So what?


End file.
